KEANSBURG — When government officials told people devastated by superstorm Sandy to waste no time rebuilding, Ed Kelly listened.

Kelly had an insurance adjuster at his Keansburg home within days after the October 2012 disaster. He then hired an architect, he borrowed money and he filed and paid for building permits.

Weeks afterward, Kelly said, state officials told him he did not qualify for various grants because he had begun work on the $150,000 project before they could verify he was following the correct process.

“I was told, ‘Go, go, go,’ so I went, went went,” Kelly told state Senate President Stephen Sweeney on Thursday. “Now, I’m on the hook for every penny.”

Sweeney has roamed the state in recent weeks, holding public events at which he encourages residents to share their stories of dealing with the government bureaucracy meant to dispense federal aid dollars for Sandy victims. Sweeney has dubbed the gatherings his “Sandy Bill of Rights” tour.

At a Thursday event at the Bayshore Senior Center in Keansburg, elected officials, political operatives and community advocates greatly outnumbered local residents, such as Kelly, who suffered because of the storm.

“We should be able to assist people in getting through the process,” Sweeney said. “The first 16 months have not gone very well.”

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., who stood at a podium next to Sweeney, said he also recalls hearing government officials tell residents to rebuild, early on in the process.

“Everything you said is absolutely true,” Pallone told Kelly. “If I need to testify to that, I will.”

Pallone believes cases such as Kelly’s can be remedied with adjustments to the regulations, not necessarily with new legislation.

Marilyn Schlossbach, who owns several restaurants in the region, including Langosta Lounge in Asbury Park, said she has borrowed tens of thousands of dollars because she could not afford to sit around and wait for the grants that she believes she otherwise would have been qualified to receive.

“I can have all the patience in the world, it doesn’t mean I’ll have a restaurant next year,” said Schlossbach, who is applying for a $50,000 grant for one of her locations. “I need it.”